Wolves officially confirmed the appointment of Dean Saunders as new manager this morning, 24 hours after the departure of Stale Solbakken.

The former Wales striker gained coaching experience at Blackburn and Newcastle while he was also assistant manager to John Toshack in the international set-up for three years.

He began his management career with Wrexham in 2008 before taking over at Doncaster in September 2011 and although he was unable to prevent relegation from the Championship, he departs the Keepmoat Stadium with Rovers currently joint-top of League One.

He is a former Wales international footballer who played as a striker in a career from 1982 to 2001.

Best known for playing for Aston Villa, he also played for Swansea City, Cardiff City (on loan), Brighton, Oxford United, Derby County, Liverpool, Galatasaray, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Benfica and Bradford City. He also won 75 caps for Wales.

In 1992 he became Aston Villa's record signing in a £2.5m deal and linked up with former Liverpool players Steve Staunton and Ray Houghton at Villa Park.

He managed six goals in his first four league games including two on his home debut against Liverpool, the club who had sold him.

He also scored the winner at Anfield later in the season. He developed a strong partnership with Dalian Atkinson until the latter suffered an injury midway through the season.

Linking up with Dwight Yorke, Saunders kept on scoring but the goals dried up and Villa could only manage second place behind Manchester United.

Saunders had managed 16 goals with 12 of them in the league including a 35 yard strike against Ipswich Town. Saunders, or "Deano" as he was known around Villa had quickly won over the hearts of the supporters with his 100% work-rate even when he was suffering a lean spell in front of goal - and he is still remembered fondly by fans today.

Saunders and Villa found goals hard to come by in the league in 1993-94 and he only managed 10, although he did manage a hat-trick in a game against Swindon Town. He did however manage six more in the cups, four of which came in the League Cup. His goals against Birmingham City and Tranmere Rovers helped Aston Villa reach the 1994 Football League Cup Final where they beat Manchester United 3-1, Saunders scoring twice to end Villa's 12-year wait for a major trophy.

Saunders hit the target 17 times in the 1994–95 season but Villa came one place short of relegation — two years after they had come one place short of the league title. 15 of those goals were in the Premier League and at one point he managed seven goals in six games including braces against Wimbledon in a 7-1 victory, and Sheffield Wednesday. His final Villa goal came against Leicester City and despite not scoring in his final twelve appearances for the club he was named the Supporters Player of the Year for 1994-95.

In 1995 he moved to Turkish club Galatasaray As part of new Villa manager Brian Little's rebuilding programme, which resulted in most of the Ron Atkinson era of players being sold.

He then returned to Britain to play for Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United, before leaving the UK again to play for Benfica.

He returned to play for Bradford City for two years before finally retirning in the 2000-2001 season.

Speaking today, Saunders told Sky Sports News: "It was a very difficult decision to leave Doncaster but this is a big club, it's a big challenge and I am looking forward to it.

"It is a tough league and we have to try and get up the other end of it. We have to hit the ground running.

"There is no secret in football - good players working hard and that is what I will be pointing at.